


Clueless

by fcktamlin



Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: 10 things i hate about you vibes, F/M, clueless fic, illyrian steppes, lots of movie inspo, post acofas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-24
Updated: 2018-05-24
Packaged: 2019-05-13 10:04:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14746766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fcktamlin/pseuds/fcktamlin
Summary: Elain and Azriel have to save the Illyrian camps from the wrath of their commanders. A series of hijinks ensue.





	Clueless

**Author's Note:**

> WELL HERE IT IS. AT 5AM. WHY AM I STILL AWAKE? BECAUSE I JUST HAD TO FINISH. 
> 
> I present: Clueless. Inspired by this ask from @modernbookfae on tumblr probably like 6 months ago: Nessian: “Don’t touch me!” “I didn’t.”
> 
> and suddenly an idea was born…
> 
> SFW Word Count: 5.5K

Life was hell with Cassian and Nesta. Azriel had only been at the Steppes for a day and already he wanted to crawl into Bryaxis’ lair. The days were absolutely brutal: training began at the first tendrils of dawn with three laps around the camp. Then the Illyrians would train for hours. Then finally, breakfast, if you could even call it that. Really it was just...gruel. Then another five laps. Then flight training. Then ring matches. Then lunch. And the day continued on as such. To be completely honest, Azriel had blocked it out. He wasn’t there for training, of course, but wanted to shadow his brother to make sure all was well. And Cassian did every exercise. So Az did every exercise. But when the sun rose the next morning...Az might’ve slept a little late so as to miss the running.

It wasn’t so much the exercise that was awful, he was a trained warrior after all, but the ruthlessness of Cassian. He had never known his brother to be such a harsh leader at a camp like this. Yes, at war, to the trained warriors and disgusting Hewn City recruits, but not to these younglings. 

And he always thinking of new improvements. He spent the entire day, even during training, hashing out his ideas to Azriel. Az nodded along to what his brother said, but tuned out a bit once hour five of complaints and plans hit. It wasn’t that he didn’t care...just that he couldn’t really do much except nod and say “Sounds good, Commander.”

Azriel also noticed how the trainees were responding to this new, extreme regimen. They were agitated. They were following Cassian, but groaned behind his back. They dragged their feet and could barely stomach the meals they were given. He heard them talking about how much they hated having the commander at the camp with them. But it wasn’t Azriel’s place to rule the armies, so he said nothing to Cassian. 

It wasn’t until he saw Elain on his second night that he decided to act.

He hadn’t realized that she was visiting. He was out wandering after dinner, unable to sleep with the lead sitting in his stomach, and saw her doing the same near the edge of the female camp. 

“Elain?” 

Her head whipped up and her eyes filled with relief at his face. “Oh Mother, Az. I’m so glad you’re here.” She raced towards him and he laughed as she barreled into him for a hug. 

“Is Nesta as terrifying as Cassian is?”

He took her groan for a yes. 

“Now, of course, I don’t know how Nesta usually acts in...leadership roles...but is she being uncommonly harsh?” 

“Well, without speaking too ill of my dear sister, she isn’t the most pleasant person all the time. But she’s acting more icy than usual. She sets an unrelenting pace for the female’s training and was forcing me to do all the exercises. I mean, I’m no stranger to training, thanks to you--” he dipped his head “--but I need a break sometimes. I have other things to attend to. I barely was able to escape from my own tent tonight.”

“Cassian as well. And he continues to drone on and on about improvements to the camp and what he can work on,” Azriel complained, uncharacteristically, but Elain nodded avidly. “He seems almost manic. I have half a mind to assume he doesn’t sleep and just stays up plotting new ways to torture these poor Illyrians.” 

“I saw Nesta switch her light off mere hours before dawn last night!” Azriel chuckled at the absurdity of it all. Elain sighed.

They both walked over to the trees lining the camp and sat down at the base of one massive pine. Azriel draped his jacket over a patch of dirt to sit on. She smiled with gratitude. 

“How long are you here for?” Elain asked him. 

“Two more whole weeks.” He threw his arm and fell backwards on the trunk of the tree dramatically for her benefit. He peeked out to see her giggling and was satisfied. “And you?”

“The same actually. I’m trying to acquaint myself with the whole of the Court to be able to orient myself properly in my visions. It has no use if I can’t tell where the event will happen.”

“You’re going to be quite the asset to our amazing and powerful High Lord. You might even bump me out in terms of usefulness.” Elain laughed and shoved his shoulder. 

“That’s if I survive these coming weeks,” she said, giving him a meaningful look.

“That it true, litte fawn. I don’t know if I will either.”

“Of course you will, Spymaster. You can survive anything.” She grinned up at him and he looked into her eyes, finding himself drawn into the gleam within them. 

“We should probably be heading back to sleep.” She groaned but nodded.

He stood and brushed himself off, then extended a hand to her to help her up. She curtsied jokingly and he laughed. He leaned down to collect his jacket and as he arose he noticed an eyelash on Elain’s cheek. She seemed to hold her breath as he swept his thumb over her cheek and presented the eyelash to her. 

“It’s an Illyrian tradition, you--”

“‘An Illyrian tradition,’” she repeated back, mocking his voice. He raised an eyebrow. “We do this in the human realm, too. You’re not that special.” 

“Well, make a wish then.” 

She looked at him, then back to his thumb. Steeling her eyes closed, she took a deep breath and blew. 

They walked back to the camps. When they got to the border of the female camp, they turned to face each other. 

“What did you wish for?” Azriel asked. 

“If I tell you, it’ll never come true!” She winked and he chuckled. Backing up, he put his hands up in protest.

“Fine, fine. Well, I must leave you. I worry about what might happen if Nesta awakens to find you not in your tent.” He grins as she groans. 

He watches her walk away, and his grin widens when she turns extending her hand out to him, as he if could pull her away from the dangers of her sister. 

And turning away he realized he might be able to. 

\--

The next morning, Azriel awoke earlier than usual to find Cassian. His brother was drawing up lines in the sand for some new training exercise. Az groaned internally, but steadied himself. 

“Good morning, brother,” Az clapped Cassian on the back, trying to lighten the mood.

“Oh! Wasn’t expecting you to be up, lazybones.”

“Is it lazy to sleep to a normal decent hour of the morning?” Azriel said under his breath, then forced a chuckle when Cassian gave him and odd yet stern look. “Kidding! I have some thoughts on training today, though, Cass.” 

“Oh?” Cassian stopped drawing lines in the dirt. “Bit of a bold statement from someone who’s only been here for a couple days.” 

“Ah, well, you trust me, right?” He smiled hopefully. 

“Only as far as I can throw you.” Azriel’s smile strained. But Cassian laughed and flexed a bicep. “Which is pretty far, if I do say so myself.” Azriel laughed, and hid a grimace. 

“Well, I was thinking that we might want to try integrating the male training with the females.” He waited patiently for a response as Cassian stilled. 

“I don’t know how well that would work out…” 

“Aren’t you always saying that the male and female training should be the same? That they have no purpose being different in any way?” He smirked inwardly as he saw his argument winning in Cassian’s mind, expressed by the look on the commander’s face. “And this would be fine example for the leaders of the other camps.” He bit back a triumphant grin when Cassian loosed a breath.

“I suppose…” Cassian trailed off and Azriel clapped him on the back again. 

“I’ll go send word to Nes--” A cringe from Cassian had him cut the name off. “Send word to the female camp.” 

His shadows led him to Elain’s tent. He hoped she wasn’t still sleeping and announced himself (quietly) at the entrance. All he heard in response was quiet stirring. 

“Can I come in?” he whispered. 

“Uhh...yeah...Yeah, come in,” her lilting voice, still groggy from sleep, came from the tent. 

He opened in the flap, concealing the sound and sight with his shadows, and entered. Elain was looking up at him from her bed (which was really just a mat on the floor with about 10 blankets over it) and as soon as his eyes met hers all thoughts rushed from his head, like dam bursting in a lake. 

“Yes, Az?” She yawned and stretched. He shook his head, trying to shake all thoughts of what her body looked like in her sleeping clothes from his brain.

“Um, Cassian took my bait.” She looked at him quizzically. “Sorry, he’s going to integrate the training. He’s going to bring the males over to train with the females.” Elain’s eyes widened.

“What?!” She sat up straighter. “Why didn’t you warn me? I have to get Nesta. Oh gods, she’s going to kill me. She’s going to kill you. And Cassian probably, too.” She stood up and began searching her tent for her training clothes. “You’ve started a bloodbath.” He turned away as she began changing, fiddling with his leathers, unsure of what to do with his hands or where to look. It seemed sleep had relieved Elain of her usual inhibitions and manners. He felt a tap on his shoulder and whirled around. “This is going to be an all out war.” He grimaced. “And this is going to be such fun.” He looked up and met Elain’s grey eyes alight with excitement. A laugh burst from him as she waltzed out of the tent. 

He exited her tent to find the camp awakening. Elain was rushing to find Nesta, and young females were rustling in their tents. Azriel hurriedly walked back to the male’s camp to find Cassian lining up the young Illyrians who were awake and at attention. He schooled his face into the dark and steely mask that he wore around the Court. And maybe let his shadows swirl and darken a little extra, just for the drama of it all. 

Once all the recruits were lined up, Cassian stood at the front of the pack. He puffed his chest out and stood with his hands on his hips, and Azriel fell into place beside him.

“Today we have something different planned for you all,” Cass spoke in a booming voice, what Rhys and Az liked to call his “Mr. Commander” voice. “Today--” his speech was cut off by a terrifying sound:

Nesta Archeron screaming “WHAT?!” from the female camp.

Cassian just grinned. 

“Today, we’re joining your sisters.” 

And so it begins, Az thought to himself. 

\--

Azriel told himself it wasn’t a bad plan. Or a horrible one. Or an awful one. He told himself it surely wasn’t going to be this bad the whole day. 

In essence, he lied. 

Cassian and Nesta had spent the better part of the morning arguing over which training exercises to begin with. The only one they had agreed on was morning laps, so that’s what the recruits did. And had been doing since the arguments began. 

Finally, it was time to break for breakfast and the younglings all collectively breathed a sigh of relief. They all made their way to the tents, Azriel and Elain falling behind. 

“Az, I just have one question for you.” 

“Yes, Elain?” Her response was a smack upside his head.

“Are you mental? Why did you think this would be a good idea? If anything, it’s worse.” She glared at him. It was sort of amusing, like a bunny glaring up at a wolf. 

“Technically that was two quest--ow!” Elain smacked him again. “At least they’re talking to each other!” 

Elain sighed. “I guess that’s true. Maybe she’ll complain to me less.” Azriel nodded. He was hoping the same thing with Cassian. They continued into the dining tent..

...To find Nesta and Cassian sitting at the leader’s table, filling the entire space with their unresolved, icy tension. Az’s shadows almost seemed to be trying to pull him out of the tent, away from the stress. But Cassian’s eyes met his, and he could see the desperation. So he grabbed a portion the meal being served (gruel, what else?) and strode toward their table. As he sat he let his shadows flare a bit to gather as much information as he could. Not that there was much to gather. Cassian and Nesta, it seemed, had not spoken since entering the tent. 

Elain sat down across from him, by her sister’s side. Her eyes darted around; she wasn’t as used to concealing her emotions as he was and her unease was obvious. He met her gaze and tried to muster up an encouraging look that wasn’t too obvious. When she looked back in confusion, he gave her a conspiratorial wink and let a tendril loose under the table. He let it graze a leg across from him and acted casual the whole time. 

But he almost spit out his drink when Elain’s eyes widened and met his. He yanked back the shadow and moved it over. This time, he knew he hit his mark when Nesta’s eyes narrowed and she whipped her head over to face Cassian. 

“Don’t. Touch. Me.” The first words uttered during the meal drew many looks. And a few snickers that were shut up by elbows from their own tables. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Nessie.” Cassian flashed his most vulpine grin. Azriel could almost feel Nesta’s blood boiling. 

“I’m serious, you beast. Don’t you dare touch me.”

“I didn’t.” His gaze became liquid fire and met her own made of steel. 

They just looked at each other for a while. Az found it hard to watch, and clearly so did Elain, as her eyes were everywhere but towards her sister. 

Finally, Nesta stood and began walking out. But before she could go, Azriel let a tendril free, one that was practically invisible, and squeezed Nesta’s waist. The side nearest to Cassian. 

Nesta’s slap reverberated throughout the whole tent. And just as quickly as she had slapped him, she was stalking away. Once she was almost out the door, Cassian called to her.

“I’ve missed your fire, sweetheart.” She didn’t bother turning around. 

Elain dashed out after her sister, and Azriel finished his meal as quickly as he could, not wanting Cassian to ask any questions. 

Elain confronted Azriel after he left the tent, which was now alive with whispers and jittery conversation. 

He began to smile at his triumph, when she began smacking him. Again. 

“Don’t! Ever! Touch! My! Sister! Again!” Each word was punctuated with a smack to his arm. He accepted them, understanding where she was coming from. 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” He looked at her and she looked at him. Slowly her gaze softened from fury to amusement.

“It worked though,” she smiled. “She can’t stop talking about ‘that damned bastard.’” A smile spread over his own face.

“Cassian spent the rest of the meal complaining about ‘that firey bitch,’ so I’d say we’ve laid the proper foundation. Now, the real plan begins.”

Azriel led Elain back to the male camp. He knew that Cassian wouldn’t bring the males back to their camp and thus back down from Nesta’s challenges, now more than ever, and Elain assured him that Nesta would assume her sister was exploring more of the Steppes for her seer duties. 

They sat down in his tent and he explained his plan. They would both try to rally their respective siblings up as much as possible, stoking the flames as it were, and would also begin to shape both Nesta and Cassian into the other’s perfect fantasy. 

“Well, they’re already absolutely obsessed with each other, so that shouldn’t be too much of a problem,” Elain shrugged. Azriel chuckled and nodded.

“We just need to put the finishing touches on them so they’re irresistible. So, what does Nesta like?”

“I don’t know, all I’ve ever heard her say is that she’d die before dating a guy that smokes.” Elain shrugged.

“Okay, all right, no smoking.” Cassian had a pipe so Az would have to recitfy that. “What else?” She looked at him blankly. He made a sort of Well? gesture with his arms.

“You’re asking me to investigate the inner workings of my sister’s twisted mind? I don’t think so.” Azriel sighed. 

“I think we need to go behind enemy lines.”

\--

 

Before he knew it, they were in Nesta’s tent. 

It wasn’t decorated very ornately. Just a few grey pillows and books scattered everywhere in addition to her leathers and training clothes. Elain began rifling through the mess, trying to find any helpful bits of information. 

“Well, here are a few of her favorite books.” Elain handed him a stack of well-worn paperbacks, each filled with dog-eared pages. 

“Romance novels,” he stated, a bit surprised. Elain smiled. 

“Perhaps she wants a gallant knight to whisk her off her feet.” 

Azriel almost burst out laughing at the image, but restrained himself to keep their mission stealthy. He couldn’t imagine anyone getting Nest off of her feet, gallant knight or no. 

“Oooh,” Elain called. He turned around and faced the Archeron, now with black underwear dangling from her forefinger. “Black panties.” 

Azriel tried to keep a hold on himself. “What does that mean?”

“She wants to have sex one day that’s what,” Elain smirked. He stared at her, not quite believing the statement.

“She could just like the color.”

Elain gave him a frank look. “You don’t buy black lingerie unless you want someone to see it.”

Azriel swallowed.

“Oh.” 

“Oh,” they heard from outside the tent. Azriel’s eyes went wide and he shot his shadows out. 

They pulled in a surprising sight: a young Illyrian girl with a hood pulled over her features and face down. 

“Who. Are. You.” Azriel summoned his darkest, most terrifying Spymaster voice. 

“What’s it to you?” the youngling retorted back, still not looking up at them. Elain gave her an surprised yet approving look and Azriel rolled his eyes.

“I am your High Lord’s Spymaster. I demand to know who has been spying on the High Lady’s sister and myself so as to know who it is I must punish.” 

The girl huffed and ripped the hood off. “My name is Raven.” 

“Well, Raven. Kneel before your High Lord’s court.” 

“Oh Az, calm down.” Elain brushed past him and got a good look at the girl. “She means no harm.” 

“She was following us Elain. And eavesdropping. That’s a very serious offense.” Azriel gave Elain a stern look, but she just waved him away.

“Psh. If anything it just proves that she’s a good spy.” The girl seemed to preen at the compliment. “Maybe you should take her under your...wing...as it were.” He gave Elain an exasperated look. She simply winked and ruffled the girl’s--Raven’s--hair. 

“I mean,” Raven met his gaze. He steeled it back into that of the stern shadowsinger. “I could always let Commander Nesta know that you were poking around in her tent and messing with her drawers.” A laugh burst out Elain at the girl’s bravado. Raven simply smiled, a cruel, wicked smile. She certainly belonged in the Night Court. 

Azriel loosed a breath, and with it, his terrifying facade. 

“I suppose you can go unpunished. It may be helpful to have someone in the trenches.” 

“Yeah, what exactly are you doing anyway?” Raven looked between the two of them. 

Elain explained their whole plan.

“So...if Nesta and Cassian get together, I won’t have to run as much?” Elain and Azriel nodded. Raven smiled. “I’m in.”

\--

So the next phase began. With Cassian and Nesta training their troops collectively, they were forced to be together every day. And Raven began to pick up on the habits of the commanders over the course of the week and a half and reported back to Elain and Azriel, who continued to compile their lists of what their siblings appreciated and despised in romantic relationships. Elain went to Nesta and prepped and polished her each day, making sure her hair showed off her neck the way Cassian liked, and also made sure Nesta was always wearing a slash of red, a color sure to make Cassian melt. Azriel, in turn, stole Cassian’s pipe and smoking spices, always made sure his brother had cleaned and groomed his hair, Nesta’s favorite of his assets, and started encouraging him to wear more linen and form-fitting training outfits. 

“I don’t why that would matter, Az.”

“It doesn’t really. I just...overheard some of the boys making fun of your baggy armor, like your muscles couldn’t fill it out.” Cassian shot him a look. Az shrugged. “Their words.”

After these improvements, Raven reported back happily that Nesta and Cassian couldn’t keep their eyes off of each other. 

“But our training hasn’t been made less harsh. If anything, it’s worse now that they’re trying to prove that they’re not paying attention to the other.” 

“Yeah, and Nesta barely lets me out of her sight, if only to keep talking about how much she despises Cassian.” Elain shared a worried look with Azriel. He furrowed his brow, deep in thought. Suddenly, his eyes brightened. 

“Then we just have to step it up a notch.”

\--

It was going to be a challenge to sneak out of lunch unnoticed. But Raven was determined to be a part of the mission. While none of her mates were paying attention, she dropped to the floor, beneath the tables. She crawled between the many tables around the camp, the many trainees towering over helping to conceal her body. She made it to the side entrance of the tent, and slowly sat up. She peaked from beneath her hood to confirm no one was watching and began to roll out of the tent. 

She was almost out when a hand grabbed her wrist. 

Her Illyrian training and instincts kicked in, and she flipped whoever was on her arm over and the momentum threw them both out of the tent. Raven sat on the other trainer, a boy, pinning him down. She put a hand over his mouth, silencing him, and listened to hear if anyone had noticed them tumblr out. She breathed a sigh of relief when she heard nothing unusual.

She looked down at the male who had almost foiled her mission and glared. He glanced between her face and her hand over his mouth, silently pleading for her to release it. Raven gave him a look that said If you scream I will bite your head off, or so she hoped, but took her hand off.

“I’m Flynn. Can I join you?” 

She stood and lent her arm to help him up. “I’m Raven.” Flynn just nodded.  
They began walking away from the dining tent, toward Elain, Azriel, and Raven’s usual meeting spot. 

“Nice wrestling move, by the way,” Flynn said, turning towards her. 

She looked at him, a bit surprised. “Um, thanks.” She couldn’t meet his gaze. “I learned it from Azriel.”

Flynn stopped in his tracks. 

“The Spymaster?” His voice was deathly quiet, but with awe not fear. 

Raven smirked. “Yeah.”

“You’ve met the Shadowsinger?” 

Raven smiled and reached for his hand, pulling him along so they could move faster. “You’re in for quite the nice surprise, Flynn.”

They quickly reached Azriel, who was puzzling over a piece of paper. 

“Do you know any poetry?” he asked, without looking up.

“Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?   
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:   
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,   
And summer's lease hath all too short a date;   
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,   
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;   
And every fair from fair sometime declines,   
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;   
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,   
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;   
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,   
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st:   
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,   
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee,” Flynn rattled off. 

Azriel’s gaze shifted up, slowly, and Raven looked at Flynn, utterly confused but undeniably impressed.

“My mother loves poetry,” Flynn shrugged. Raven just shook her head in amazement.

Azriel flicked his eyes between the boy and his spy trainee. “And who is this?” 

“Flynn. And wow,” excitement almost palpable in the boys voice, “is it an honor to meet you, sir. Your graciousness. Your shadow...ness.” Flynn lowered himself in a bow that almost had his hair brushing the dirt. 

Azriel bit back a laugh, then looked at Raven with approval. “He can stay.”

At that moment, Elain returned with a beautiful flower the color of the sky after a storm. 

“It took some digging, but I found it. Nesta’s favorite flower.” She handed the plant to Azriel and he showed her the poem. “‘Rough winds to shake the darling buds of May...but thy eternal summer shall not fade.’ Phat, who wrote that?” Elain looked eagerly to the younglings. 

“Our newest addition, Flynn,” Azriel said, waving his arm towards the boy. 

“Nice to meet you, Flynn.” Elain’s warm smile nearly took Az’s breath away. But he quickly collected himself in time to hear the young boy’s fawning over his dear friend. 

“Wow, you’re the sister of the High Lady right? The one who first stabbed the King of Hybern? I can’t believe I’m meeting you. In person. For real.” The look on the boy’s face was priceless and 

Elain barked out a laugh.

“I rather like him,” she said, turning to Azriel. “Let’s keep him around.” Azriel chuckled and nodded. 

The group started walking stealthily back to Nesta’s tent. 

“So...what are we doing?” Flynn whispered to Raven. 

“Don’t worry about it. Just be quiet.” He nodded and followed.

They arrived and Elain took it upon herself to deposit the note and the flower propped up against the entrance. She scrambled up just as people began exiting the dining tent. 

They all dashed to a nearby tree and hid in the brush. 

“What’s happen--” Flynn’s question was cut off by Raven shushing him and putting her hand over his mouth again. He looked up at her in amusement and curiosity and she just huffed. 

Azriel held up a hand as he spotted Nesta approaching her tent. She bent down to pick up the note, but first noticed the flower. They could almost feel her ecstasy as she sniffed it. Azriel gave Elain a discreet high-five. They both held their breath as Nesta opened the note…

...And smiled.

Only a small one and only for half of a second, but a smile nonetheless. Elain silently whooped and Raven pumped her fist. Flynn looked around confused but intrigued and Azriel looked at Elain with a grin on his face.

“Time for part two.”

Elain whipped out the second piece of paper from her bosom. Azriel’s eyes darted from her...chest to the paper she clutched. Raven snickered at his bemusement.

“Where else was I supposed to keep it, oh wise one?” Elain said, amusement alight in her voice. Without waiting for a response, she began to scribble a note. 

“One...voucher...for...two...chocolate chip muffins?” Flynn read aloud, confusion overcoming his voice.

“Commander Nesta’s special…” Elain began.

“And commander Cassian’s absolute favorite,” Azriel finished. They shared a look of pure achievement. 

“Okay, you too, enough with the looks. Let’s just go drop this off at Cassian’s tent before Nesta does anything crazy.” Raven headed off, Flynn in tow. Azriel huffed and stood to follow, his and Elain’s footsteps near silent on the ground. 

Once they reached the boy’s camp, they decided to have Flynn deliver the note. 

“You cannot let anyone see you,” Azriel reminded him, gripping the boy by the shoulders. “Because if they do, and the commander finds out, it’ll be all of our asses.” Flynn nodded, his face the epitome of absolute seriousness. Azriel grinned and sent him off.

The boy was not the poster child for sly. He wandered about like a play thief, pretending to whistle and waltzing around with his arms behind his back. He reached Cassian’s tent and ducked, pressed the note against the flap, and immediately broke out into a full-fledged spring away from the scene. Azriel was glad he had scoped it out beforehand and had made sure no one was in a close distance. 

“How was I?” Flynn huffed once he returned to them. 

Azriel looked at him, trying to conceal his disappointment with encouragement. “We can work on it!” His words were met with a pout. 

Suddenly, Cassian strutted out from behind a row of tents towards his own. The group collectively held their breath. He picked up the note and beamed. It quickly evolved into his natural cocky grin, but Azriel could tell it was pure joy at the start. They all watched as he ambled off towards the female camp and all of sudden they all caught sight of Nesta.

“Oh my gods,” Raven stuttered out.

Elain began muttering a series of shit's.

Flynn just watched, open mouthed. 

Azriel sat, clenching his jaw, watching as Cassian simply offered his arm to Nesta. 

And Nesta accepted it. 

“Ha!” Elain gasped. She looked at Azriel with awe. 

“I can barely believe it…” was his only response.

“Believe it!” Raven punched the air. “I’m never going to run again.”

“Well, I wouldn’t go that far,” Elain said patting her on the back.

“Please, just let me have this?” the girl pleaded. Elain laughed and nodded.

Azriel laughed along and looked at Flynn.

“Nice job on the poetry, kid.” Flynn looked at him with light in his eyes.

“Thanks, Sir Shadowsinger.” 

“You can just call me Azriel.”

\--

Somehow, some way, the plan worked. Cassian and Nesta both canceled the training for the rest of the day. Azriel was content to let sleeping dogs lie, but Elain insisted on checking on the lovebirds, as she called them, to make sure all was going well. So Azriel took it upon himself to approach the newly minted couple. And laughed to himself at what their response to that moniker might be. 

“Cassian!” he called ahead to his brother as soon as he saw them in sight. “Training is canceled, I heard that correctly?” 

“Yes, we,” Cassian looked to Nesta, “have things to discuss.” 

“Alright, fine by me. Just wanted to confirm you were of sound mind.” Azriel nodded to the two of them.

“Is he ever?” Nesta said, something almost akin to amusement tinging her voice. Cassian flicked her nose...And Azriel had seen enough.

“Fair point, I’ll leave you two be.”

He wandered off and found Elain, who was twirling flowers together into a garland. 

“What’s that?” he asked, chuckling. She responded by placing it a top his head. He sucked in a breath, and suddenly was filled with her scent. 

A very pleasant scent. 

“It’s for you,” she said, smiling. 

“Well, thank you,” he replied, tipping his head forward and bowing. 

As he rose back up, something alighted in Elain and she couldn’t contain herself. She launched herself at him and pressed her lips to his.

He went still with shock and she darted away, chewing on her lips, ashamed.

“I’m sorry, Az, I didn’t mean to surprise you. You just looked so cute…But I shouldn’t have just jumped you like that. I’m sorry.” She was babbling and they both knew it. But it was..cute. 

“There’s no need to apologize, Elain. You just..surprised me. I didn’t realize--”

“You didn’t realize I fancied you? Are you mad? Of course I like you.” She laughed at his confusion, but then looked down and began fiddling with her fingers. “Why do you think I just spent the last week scheming with you? I like spending time with you, Azriel. I like you.”

His confusion gave way to awe. Which gave way to pure joy. 

So he approached her and gazed down at her face, unable still to meet his gaze. He used his finger to tip her chin up and leaned in. He pressed his lips to hers and felt her relax against him. Her hands went into his hair and he loosed a moan into her mouth. His own hands traveled down the length of her, and settled on her hips. She broke away from their kiss briefly, laughing.

“I can’t believe you didn’t realize.”

“Well, I don’t know. I just thought you were tired from all the training and…” He rubbed his neck bashfully. 

“Cauldron, Az.” She blinked up at him and brushed a hand down his face. “You’re so completely clueless.”


End file.
